1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to a flexible wear sleeve for protectively surrounding one or more fluid hoses and electrical cables, as used in connection with spot-welding or arc-welding robots and machines. More particularly, this invention relates to a wear sleeve of the foregoing character that can be provided with a variable degree of elastic memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spot-welding and arc-welding robots and machines require electrical cables, water hoses and pneumatic and /or hydraulic hoses, and the cables, hoses and lines used to provide such utility sources must be flexible to accommodate the motions required of such welding robots and machines. The cables, lines and hoses used to provide such utility sources are subject to substantial wear and/or snagging, are also subject to being spattered by high temperature welding flash. Thus, it is desirable to protect such cables, lines and hoses by surrounding them with a flexible wear sleeve. In such an installation, it is also often desirable to provide the wear sleeve with a degree of elastic memory so that it and the cable(s) or conduit(s) protected thereby will return to their original shapes after removal of loads that cause them to distort therefrom. It is also often desirable to be able to bundle two or more cables or conduits surrounded by a single wear sleeve that is somewhat larger on its inner dimension than the outer dimensions of the cables or conduits surrounded thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,149 (Ford et al) discloses a sleeve for use as a protector surrounding cables and conduits, but there is no disclosure in this reference that the sleeve described therein would be sufficiently rugged and temperature resistant to operate in a satisfactory manner to protect the flexible cables and conduits that lead to a spot-welding or arc-welding machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,787 (Howell) discloses a flexible cable holder for surrounding cables in an office or home environment. Again, there is no disclosure in this reference that the holder described therein would be sufficiently rugged and temperature resistant to operate in a satisfactory manner to protect the flexible cables and conduits that lead to a spot-welding or arc-welding machine.